BMW talks tech and reveals details of its R18 motorcycle engine – here’s the spec from the factory direct. 90hp on tap.

So we know that this is the motor that’s going to be at the heart of a family of motorbike from the German factory and whilst some people have been guessing at what’s going into the lump – we’ve now got the actual spec of the R18 motor from the factory.

Here’s what you really want to know about the R18 motor – the 1,802cc air-cooled boxer engine that looks sooooo good.

Power-wise, it kicks out 90hp (67kW) of power @ 4,750rpm with the redline of the twin-cylinder coming in @ 5,750rpm. That’s not a load of power to write home about but this thing really whacks out a lot of torque, making 117lbft (158Nm) @ 3,000rpm – so the R18 should really shift off the line.

The engine weighs in at 110.5kg which means that if you take the motor with the gearbox attached them this is less weight than every motorcycle powerplant in BMW’s model line-up. Speaking of gearbox, the R18 engine is planned to have an optional electric reverse gear added to the six-speed manual transmission in the future, too.

We’ve already seen the R18 motor in CONCEPT form and we’ve also brought you spy shots of the bike in a more-equipped cruiser state – see those shots of it road testing HERE. With the information about the motor coming through thick and fast, the new motorcycles will hopefully be part of the 2021 model year line-up with the first production models being unveiled across 2020.